Research station in Utah desert is glimpse of life on Mars

Travel twenty minutes north of this tiny town, to the craggy red desert of the San Rafael Swell, and you may discover a spaceship.
The cylindrical craft isn’t from another world, but it offers a glimpse of one. It is the centerpiece of the Mars Desert Research Station, an environment created by the Mars Society, a growing non-profit organization that supports the research, exploration, and eventual colonization of the mysterious red planet.
The swell, chosen as a simulation site for its topical resemblance to Mars, provides the volunteer researchers who come here with an opportunity to live and work in a Mars analog, an environment that’s as close to the red planet as is earthly possible.
While conducting geological and psychological experiments that could someday be useful to a real Martian expedition, this small group of Mars devotees — some space scientists, some simply eager adventurers — live and work in complete “sim.” They consume only dehydrated, shelf-stable food like Bisquick and ghee, exercise to preserve their muscles in “reduced gravity,” abide by the “if it’s yellow, let it mellow” adage in an effort to conserve water, and wear spacesuits when they venture outside.